The Algarve’s A22/Via Infante motorway suffered a decrease of 10.4 % in its Average Daily Traffic in the first quarter of 2013, compared with the same period in 2012 - which was bad enough.
The first three months of the year saw a daily traffic flow of 5,079 vehicles according to the Commission for Coordination and Development of the Algarve (CCDRA).
These poor figures represent the 10th consecutive quarterly drop in traffic flow on the Algarve superhighway, since tolls were introduced in fact.
Compared to the first quarter of 2008 the reduction in traffic is an astounding 67.3%.
Strangely the traffic flow figures for the Guadiana bridge were not collected, or no one wants to publish them.
The drop in traffic is "of particular concern," to the CCDRA, with another quarterly decrease just part of a long, steady decline.
This decrease in traffic should be of concern to the government as the taxpayer picks up the shortfall in revenue payable to the Spanish owned concessionaire. However as with many glaring mistakes, the government let this situation continue despite the damaging affect on the exchequer, tourism and local business. Its refusal to publish a long awaited report on the affect the imposition of tolls has had on the local economy says it all.
The delightful thought that people have been using the trans-Algarve train service as a cheaper and possibly greener aternative can be dismissed, the facts show that in the 1st quarter of 2013 the regional railway system carried 343,863 passengers, a decrease of 9.5 % over 2012. This is the tenth consecutive drop on a line that could be a cash positive tourist attraction if set about in the right way.
